Category: Places

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Tidepool Exploration

One of my plans for this second visit to Punta Leona was to photograph lots of interesting sea creatures in the Tidepools of Playa Mantas at low tide. Well, the low tide time I could go out for was cloudy and misty rain, but that is okay if there are sea creatures! 🙂 But I was disappointed with no starfish, seahorses, blowfish, crabs, etc! Only a couple of minnow-like fish, lots of broken up coral and shells and some fossils and lichen. But below this introductory photo are photos of what I did find and it was interesting, even if not what I was expecting. I will try tidepools again in September when I’m on the Caribbean Coast and see if my luck is any better there. 🙂

Playa Mantas at Punta Leona, Costa Rica at Low Tide, with
Rocky Tidepools circled in RED where most photos were made.

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Red-crowned Woodpecker

This Red-crowned Woodpecker female (my gallery link) at Punta Leona is using whatever source of insects she can find in her environment. 🙂 And for what it is worth, this is my first sighting of this particular woodpecker and will be a “lifer” on eBird for me. It is not as common as the very similar Hoffman’s Woodpecker.

Red-crowned Woodpecker female, Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Dirce Beauty

A butterfly that I don’t see very often, though in 5 locations now, is the Dirce Beauty, Colobura dirce (my gallery link) was one of the 11 species that I photographed at Punta Leona. B&W butterflies don’t have a lot of fans, but it is one more of the many species found here!

Dirce Beauty, Hotel Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Cinnamon-bellied Saltator

The Cinnamon-bellied Saltator – Saltator grandis (my gallery link) as seen at Hotel Punta Leona was eating a flower (or maybe taking it to his/her nest?).

Cinnamon-bellied Saltator, Hotel Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Pale Owl-Butterfly

This Pale Owl-Butterfly – Caligo telamonius (my gallery link) is one of several species in the Caligo Genus with the large eye spot on each wing so that when they spread their wings they may appear to a predator as a much larger animal (like an owl) and thus a defensive mechanism. Owl-butterflies are also one of the largest butterflies in Costa Rica. This one was spotted at Hotel Punta Leona Christmas Week. Some earlier sources called it the “Yellow-fronted Owl-Butterfly.”

Pale Owl-Butterfly, Hotel Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Crested Guan

One of the good things about Punta Leona is that there are many species of bird and I got only 11 this trip compared to 21 species on my 2019 visit there. Of course the big turkey-sized Crested Guan (my gallery link) is a favorite of many of the foreign tourists. Not good lighting for this shot, but you can see better photos in the above linked gallery from all over Costa Rica.

Crested Guan, Hotel Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Black Spiny-tailed Iguana

This one looks a little different from the ones in my garden, but animals like people do have different looks, personalities, etc. 🙂 This one at Hotel Punta Leona Christmas week. See more of my photos of this species in my gallery: Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Ctenosaura similis.

Black Spiny-tailed Iguana, Hotel Punta Leona, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

¡Pura Vida!

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Banded Peacock

One of the most seen butterflies all over Costa Rica is this Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima (my gallery link) photographed here along one of the roads/streets in Punta Leona Resort, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Banded Peacock, Punta Leona Resort, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Parides Genus

There are 5 different “Cattleheart” (Parides) butterflies that are very similar to this one but I don’t think any are an exact match, so I’m putting it in the Genus and will hope for an expert identifier on iNaturalist to give it a correct species name. Then I will change it in my gallery. These black, red and white Swallowtails (linked to my gallery where there are about a dozen species of these ). They seem to be quite common in Costa Rica and not easy for me to differentiate all of the species. 🙂

Parides Genus (Cattleheart Swallowtail), Punta Leona, Costa Rica
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A New Lizard in My Tree!

After breakfast on new year’s morning, January 1, a small lizard appeared in my Cecropia Tree (Guarumo en español). Almost immediately he flashed a bright red dewlap (the flap of skin that fans out on the neck of most anoles) as he went for an insect to eat. Later, as he moved along one limb, his dewlap changed to orange and then yellow and back to red. A new experience for me! All the other anoles I’ve seen have only displayed one color of dewlap. 🙂

And when I finally got him identified, that was a surprise too! He is the only lizard I’ve got in my photo collection of 21+ lizards that is named after a person, the Charles Myers Anole, Anolis charlesmyersi (my gallery link with more photos). Here’s a shot without the dewlap displayed, followed by three shots with 3 colors of dewlap, orange, yellow and red . . .

Charles Myers Anole (no dewlap displayed), Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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